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About Kiplinger

Kiplinger (pronounced KIP-ling-er) is a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice, available in print and online.

Our best-known publications are The Kiplinger Letter, a weekly business and economic forecasting periodical for people in management, and the monthly Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. The total paid circulation of our periodicals approaches 900,000. Our fast-growing Web site, Kiplinger.com, attracts 4.5 million unique visits and 30 million page views per month.

Started in 1920 by a former AP economics reporter, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., is a closely held company managed for more than eight decades by three generations of the Kiplinger family--founder W. M. Kiplinger (1891-1967); his son Austin H. Kiplinger (b. 1918-2015); and Austin's sons Todd L. Kiplinger (1945-2008), and Knight A. Kiplinger (b. 1948), who is currently editor in chief and president. [1]

Kiplinger’s award-winning editorial content is the start of the story. In 2001 Kiplinger received one of the three American Business Ethics Awards given nationally that year by the Society of Financial Service Professionals. [2] In 2007 and 2008 it was named "one of America's most ethical companies" by Ethisphere magazine. Judges in both competitions cited Kiplinger's long tradition of progressive employee relations, profit sharing, and business practices. [3] In 2010, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) named Kiplinger’s Personal Finance the winner of its General Excellence Award for giant magazines (circulation of 500,000 and higher). In 2015, Kiplinger.com was recognized for overall editorial excellence by Media Industry News’ Best of the Web Awards.

Unusual among modern media companies, the Kiplinger organization is run by its editorial leadership--senior executives whose careers are rooted in journalism, rather than the business side of publishing (such as advertising and circulation sales). Like the founder, both Austin and Knight Kiplinger had extensive experience in daily journalism (newspapers and broadcast news, respectively) before joining the Kiplinger organization, and they continued to report, write and edit.

Business Publications

The Kiplinger Letter

With a paid circulation, in print and online nearly 100,000 (September 2016), The Kiplinger Letter is considered the most widely read business forecasting periodical in the world.

Its subscribers include people in the management of for-profit and non-profit enterprises, both large and small--businesses, government agencies, universities and schools, trade associations, unions, etc. In four pages of text each week, the Letter tries to alert its clients to what is likely to happen in business and the economy, legislation and regulation in Washington and the states, demographics, technology, world affairs, politics and investing. The Letter is nonpartisan and does not advocate for or against any particular outcome or point of view.[6]

Launched in 1923, The Kiplinger Letter pioneered a terse, colloquial writing style in which the key points of each topic are underscored for easy scanning. In a technique W. M. Kiplinger devised and dubbed "sweep-line," each line of copy--the full width of the page--ends in hard punctuation (a period or comma) at the right margin, not breaking awkwardly to wrap around to the next line.

The Kiplinger Letter rose to prominence, and experienced strong circulation growth, during the Great Depression, when W. M. Kiplinger and his staff had very good contacts within FDR’s "brain trust," enabling the Letter to give its readers very accurate early warning of key programs in the New Deal that would transform the American economy. [8]

While not primarily a political analysis newsletter, The Kiplinger Letter has correctly predicted the outcome of every presidential election since 1924—including exceptionally close races in 1960, 1976 and 2000--with the notable exception of the 1948 contest between incumbent Harry S Truman and GOP challenger Thomas Dewey.

Kiplinger said Dewey would win easily and get reelected in 1952. The Kiplinger Magazine created a special issue—which was in the mail to subscribers on election day—titled "What Dewey Will Do." The fact that Kiplinger had plenty of company in its faulty prediction was no consolation to editor in chief W. M. Kiplinger, who apologized to his subscribers and criticized himself for failing to keep on reporting right down to the wire.

The Kiplinger Tax Letter

With over 80,000 biweekly subscribers, The Tax Letter is the most widely read tax advisory newsletter, with readers at law and accounting firms, corporate CFO and general counsel offices, and the homes of high-net-worth individuals. In four pages each issue, covering both business and personal taxation, the Letter tries to advise its readers on coming changes in tax law and regulations, recent rulings and interpretations by the IRS, Tax Court and states, and strategies for minimizing taxes. It was launched in 1925.

Personal Finance Content

Kiplinger's Personal Finance

The monthly magazine advises its readers on managing their money, covering investing, retirement planning, taxes, insurance, real estate, buying and leasing a car, health care, travel and financing college. It has a paid monthly circulation of 600,000 copies per month (verified by the Audit Bureau of Circulation), sold mostly by subscription but also on newsstands.

Founded in 1947 as Kiplinger Magazine (subtitled "The Changing Times"), it was the first magazine to offer money management advice to the American people. Kiplinger Magazine changed its name to Changing Times (subtitled: "The Kiplinger Magazine") in 1949, and it was known by that name until 1991, when it was renamed Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.[9] For 33 years after its founding, it existed entirely on subscription and single-copy revenue, but in 1980 it began carrying advertising.

Editorially, Kiplinger's magazine has championed over the decades a number of personal finance strategies and investment products that later became popular "conventional wisdom": the superiority of systematic investing (dollar cost averaging) over market timing; growth stocks that paid little or no dividends but invested in new technologies; mutual funds, especially no-load funds; stock index funds; term life insurance, rather than whole-life; and global investing.

Kiplinger's Retirement Report

Special Issues and Products

The Custom Publishing Division creates both Kiplinger-branded and white-label digital content, newsletters and pamphlets for a variety of enterprises, including banks, associations, and military organizations.